Improvement in processes for manufacturing paper-pulp



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESSES 'FOR MANUFACTURING PAPER-PULP.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 196,666, dated October30, 1877; application filed August 30, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DOUGLAS HICKOX, of Springfield, in'the county ofSangamon and State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Processes for the Manufacture of Paper; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

This invention relates to an improvement in the process of manufacturingpaper from the plant botanically known as the Abutilon am'cenmc, locallycalled Indian mallow, stamp-weed, rag-weed, &c., which grows largely inMissouri and Illinois.

Heretofore paper has been manufactured from this plant by the ordinaryprocess, as used in the manufacture of paper from straw and such likematerial.

I have found in such manufacture that the paper produced is coarse inappearance, and has a rough and uneven surface, unfitting it for use asa fine wrapping-paper and for like purposes.

The object, therefore, I have in view is the production of paperfrom theAbutt'lon am'cenme which will have a smooth and even surface, and can beused for fine paper bags, and as fine wrapping-paper, and can be appliedto any of the uses to which a brown or colored paper might be adapted.

The manner in which I conduct my process is as follows: I take theAbutilon acicenme and first treat it in the manner heretofore em.ployed, by cutting or breaking the plant into short pieces, then boilingfrom six to twelve hours in a solution of lime and soda-ash 1mder apressure of about eighty pounds to the square inch. After this step theplant is removed from the boiler and deposited in piles to undergo aprocess of fermentation. Then the plant is in a condition to be washedand reduced to pulp, suitable for making paper, which is done bygrinding or breaking in a machine called a pulping or rag engine, usedby allpaper-make-rs for the reduction of stock to pulp.

During this part of the process, which lasts usually from eight totwelve hours, the plant is exposed to a constant stream of fresh, cleanwater, supplied at one end of the machine, the impurities and surpluswater being carried off by a revolving screen at the other end of themachine.

The water washes and softens the material, and carries off all theimpurities.

After the expiration of the time necessary to complete this part of theprocess, a sufficient quantity of bleaching material is added to givethe pulp the proper color. The pulp is now in a semi-fluid state, andmay be drawn off or elevated with pumps and conveyed in spouts having aslight inclination.

The pulp at this point heretofore has been manufactured directly intopaper in the ordinary way.

By my improved process I take the pulp in the semi-fluid state,afterithas been thoroughly ground, washed, and bleached in the ordinarypulping-cngine, as above described, and pass it through a pair ofmillstones, such as are in general use among millers for grinding grain.

I have designed to use any of the ordinary kinds of millstones, whetherthe stones are vertical or horizontal, or whether the upper or lowerstone is the runner.

After the pulp has passed through these millstones and has been groundit is made into paper in the ordinary manner.

The grinding of the pulp after passing from the rag or pulping enginediminishes the size of the fiber, and, without lessening the strength ofthe paper, gives its surface a smooth and homogeneous appearance.

I do not wish to confine my invention to the treatment of Abutiloncw'icennw, since it can be practiced with equal advantage upon the strawof grains, or upon wood or other similar vegetable substances.

' Having thus fully described my process, what I claim as my invention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The process of treating Abutz'lon acicemue, straw, or other similarvegetable substances in the manufacture of paper-pulp, consisting infirst cutting or breaking the plant into small pieces, then boiling thesame, then allowing it to ferment, then reducing it to pulp in a rag orpulping engine, and subjecting it to a stream of water, and finallygrinding between ordinary millstones, substantially as described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 25th day of August, 1876.

DOUGLAS HIGKOX.

Witnesses:

SAML. D. ScHoLEs, F. G. MATHER.

